Journal 10

          The trolley problem evokes philosophical, psychological, and ethical problems; all of which, are related.  It seems as if the general consensus is that it is okay for the single man to die in scenario 1 and the five men to die in scenario 2 despite the fact that one or five men can be chosen in both situations.  From a strictly logical standpoint, it seems foolish to let five men die in scenario 2 when there is a simple way to let one man die instead.  However, because people are part of the equation, nothing is truly black and white.  Many different types of logic come into play when people are determining right from wrong.  Imagine that each scenario is a closed system, the first containing a moving trolley and two tracks, one with five men and one with one man.  Although a conscious decision has to be made to switch the track to the one man, it can be rationalized as simply choosing to kill less people.  Because the one man was already part of the system, i.e. already in danger, it is acceptable to choose to kill him.  In the second scenario, the system is slightly harder to define.  However, if we look strictly at the track and all the possible places to where the train can go, we can logically say that the system includes the trolley and the five men.  Even though one large man could be pushed in front of the trolley and save the five men, that would require adding something to the system.  We can think of adding something to the system as a conscious and meaningful action.  Because we have to consciously add the fat man to the system, we are more than simply choosing to kill him.  We are deliberately putting the fat man in harms way when he was initially in no such danger.   There are also legal factors that play into it.  When looking at guilt, we can also consider liability and fault.
           Ultimately, I think this question is more about analyzing why/how people choose between right and wrong than it is about what is right and wrong.  By analyzing peoples choices and thoughts regarding a simple scenario, we can glean so much more about people and the way our minds work and process the world around us.